Space Patrol Delta
Power Rangers: Space Patrol Delta (often abbreviated as "PRSPD") was the thirteenth incarnation of the Power Rangers television series, based on the Super Sentai series Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger (Special Investigation Task Force Detective Ranger). Production History Power Rangers S.P.D was a milestone season behind-the-scenes and for the fanbase. After two years on the series, Doug Sloan and Ann Austen departed as the primary writers and producers of PR, paving the way forward for Greg Arranowitz and Bruce Kalish to take over, with Jackie Marchand staying on as a writer. Joining her were several of Kalish's friends from Hollywood, David Garber, and John Tellegen. Kalish, a veteran producer of syndicated series, including favorites such as The Incredible Hulk, The Fall Guy, and others, boasted a noticeable career. Kalish and Arranowitz's combined effort on the early portions of SPD gained instantaneous praise from the fanbase, as SPD proved to be one of the more ambitious PR seasons ever attempted, with a rare cast of strong actors portraying each character with gravitas and investment, as a result, the cast became hailed as perhaps one of the best in the show's history. It was also at this time that the production crew opened communications with the fandom, which Sloan had previously done, enabling fans to conduct interviews and have conversations with the cast and the producers. But the events of Hurricane Katrina, coupled with other projects and the season going overbudget, prevented Greg Arranowitz from contributing further to S.P.D, and as a result, a change in quality became apparent as certain decisions were made regarding the pace of the story arc and characters in the season. Kalish, without a man who clearly was the person keeping an eye on the details of the storyline, fell to pieces under the weight. As a result, The Omega Ranger was infamously cast as a ball of light, a decision Kalish later regretted. Some of the series' veteran fans instantly pounced on the declining quality, countered by fans who believed that S.P.D still had mileage in it despite the problems that had hit it behind-the-scenes. For the first time also, fans slowly began picking apart at the overuse of explosions, a trait that would eventually become a staple of Kalish's era on the franchise. As the season continued, it became obvious S.P.D was struggling with it's own status quo and storylines, as more fillers blatantly translated storylines from Dekaranger to push the season towards a conclusion. A brief reprieve for this complacent writing came when Jackie Marchand's two-part storyline "Reflection" resolved Sky's struggle with his personal demons, but it wouldn't last. By the time the Dinothunder/S.P.D crossovers "History" and "Wormhole" aired, the latter was crucified for not being able to properly accomodate Jason David Frank, as he was back in the States. The interaction with the cast and crew gradually minimized as Kalish began receiving death threats, and he later admitted his own children had browsed Rangerboard and were horrified by the crass, derogatory criticism and humorous anecdotes made about him. In a second interview, Kalish defended his dependence on Sentai material, insiting his crew were simply "paid to translate, not tell original stories". This led to more frustrated veteran fans crying out for blood. Kalish's inconsistent ideas on what Omni was also fueled arguments that continuity no longer applied Power Rangers fandom was never the same. S.P.D had widened the gap, splintering the fanbase into factions for and against the season and for the later endeavours to follow from Kalish. Whilst such a fracturing didn't last long, coming more or less to an end in 2007 as the majority consensus weighed heavily in favou\r against the production team, the hostilities would not be so easily forgotten, nor the damage that was done. Regardless of the hostilities and divided reactions, S.P.D remains a memorable season for many fans. Having boasted a superb early run of episodes, an acclaimed cast of actors, and a concept that still provides more fanfiction material than other seasons following it, S.P.D is highly regarded as the best of the Kalish seasons. Synopsis The story takes place in the year 2025, after Earth has welcomed alien beings to live peacefully with the human race. But peace is short lived, as the planet-conquering Troobian Empire turns its destructive attention to Earth. When the Earth's first line of defense, the S.P.D. A-Squad, vanishes without trace, the protection of the planet falls to their replacements: the B-Squad Rangers, and their commander, Anubis Cruger. When two reformed thieves join the team as the Red and Yellow S.P.D. Rangers, tensions threaten to tear them apart. With the alien threat growing stronger every moment, the Rangers must put aside their differences and go into action as one! Using teamwork, intergalactic weaponry and light-speed Zord vehicles to battle evil, they unite to become one of the ultimate forces for good: Power Rangers Space Patrol Delta! thumb|500px|left|"SPD, Emergency!" Characters Rangers S.P.D. Staff/Allies * Supreme Commander Fowler "Birdie" * Sergeant Silverback * Piggy * Boom * Dino Thunder Power Rangers * Ally Samuels Villains * Emperor Gruumm * Mora/Morgana * Broodwing * Omni * A-Squad Arsenal * R.I.C. 2.0 (Robotic Interactive Canine) * Delta Blasters - The Red Ranger's personal sidearms, they can function separately or be combined into the Delta Combo Blaster. * DeltaMax Strikers - The Blue, Green, Yellow, and Pink Rangers' fire-arms. The barrel of the blaster doubles as a sword, while the grip serves as a tazer-like weapon. * Delta Patrol Cycles - A trio of motorcycles used by the Red, Blue, and Green Rangers. * Delta Morphers - The morphers of B-Squad, activated by a call of "SPD Emergency!". This device contains 5 functions, separated by 3 different tabs: ** Morph: The "Change" option on the Delta Morphers transforms the cadets into their ranger costumes. ** Power Up to S.W.A.T. Mode: When the Rangers activate the "Change" option while morphed and call for it, their S.W.A.T. armor appears. ** Communicator: The "Phone" option serves as basic communication allowing the Rangers to contact each other or the Academy, as well as summon the Delta Runners. ** Judgment Scanner: The "Judge" option assesses the guilt or innocence of anyone the Rangers bring into custody. It measures pulse and electrical impulses before rendering a verdict, and it never makes mistakes. ** Containment Mode: If a criminal is charged Guilty, this subsection of "Judge" will blast him with Anti-Matter Fusion, sealing him in a Containment Card and making transportation of the detainee a non-issue. * Patrol Morpher - The Shadow Ranger's morpher looks exactly the same as the Delta Morphers and has the same functions, but is colored black. * Omega Morpher - The Omega Ranger's morpher features a throttle control that gives him access to a variety of powers including: ** Blast Mode: Allows the Omega Ranger to gather energy in the palm of his hand before discharging it as a powerful shockwave. ** Muscle Mode: Enhances the Omega Ranger's physical strength. ** Hyper Mode: Once this is activated, Omega Ranger can either slow down time or increase his speed at will. ** Judgment Scanner: The "Judge" option assesses the guilt or innocence of anyone the Rangers bring into custody. It measures pulse and electrical impulses before rendering a verdict, and it never makes mistakes. * Magna Morpher - The Magna Morpher is the upgrade for the Red Ranger and allows Jack to call the S.P.D. Battlizer. It is stored within a special compartment in R.I.C., and looks like the Omega Morpher. * S.P.D. Battlizer - Accessed by the Magna Morpher, the S.P.D. Battlizer was designed by Kat and Boom. The Battlizer has two modes, the second mode utilizing a reconfigured R.I.C. ** Cyber Mode: Enhances Jack's agility and fighting ability to superhuman levels and features a sword as well as strategically placed armor. ** Sonic Mode: R.I.C. completely transforms into an armor replete with rocket booster pack, siren lasers, and flaming sword. * Delta Cruiser - a standard issue Jeep used by the Yellow and Pink Rangers. * Delta ATV - Four wheeled vehicle belonging to the Shadow Ranger. It is equipped with powerful blasters. * Uniforce Cycle - A motorized unicycle belonging to the Omega Ranger. * Shadow Saber - Personal weapon of the Shadow Ranger. Its blade can be enhanced at the push of a button. * S.W.A.T. Mode - Special Weapons And Tactics - This technology, created by Kat and stolen by Piggy, was rebuilt and given to the B-Squad Rangers once they learned to work together in S.W.A.T. Part 2. In this mode, they gain the Delta Enforcers and chest armor. Also, the lights on their helmets extend and become antenna/communication devices. S.W.A.T. has many other valuable functions, including heat seeking and nightvision. The Rangers summon this armor via their morphers ("SPD, S.W.A.T. mode!" is the call). * Delta Enforcers - These powerful guns associated with S.W.A.T. mode have different functions depending on the card swiped and inserted into them, such as Containment Mode. * Cat Morpher- Delta Morpher painted white and red. * Nova Morpher- a gold-colored version of the Omega Morpher. Zords The zords in Power Rangers: S.P.D. were law-enforcement vehicles, designed by researchers working for Space Patrol Delta, notably Dr. Kat Manx. They were as follows: * Delta Runners ** Delta Runner 1 (Red/Jack) ** Delta Runner 2 (Blue/Sky) ** Delta Runner 3 (Green/Bridge) ** Delta Runner 4 (Yellow/Z) ** Delta Runner 5 (Pink/Syd) * Delta Squad Megazord (combination of Delta Runners) * Delta Base/Delta Command Crawler/Delta Command Megazord (Shadow/Doggie) * Omegamax Cycle/Omegamax Megazord (Omega/Sam) * Delta Max Megazord (combination of Delta Squad Megazord & Omegamax Megazord) * S.W.A.T. Flyers ** S.W.A.T. Flyer 1 (Red/Jack) ** S.W.A.T. Flyer 2 (Blue/Sky) ** S.W.A.T. Flyer 3 (Green/Bridge) ** S.W.A.T. Flyer 4 (Yellow/Z) ** S.W.A.T. Flyer 5 (Pink/Syd) * S.W.A.T. Megazord/S.W.A.T. Cannon (combination of S.W.A.T. Flyers) Episode guide The Comic Strip A new monthly comic strip based on the series appeared every issue of "Jetix Magazine" in the UK. Jetix Magazine is the official magazine of JETIX, the channel that shows S.P.D. in the UK. The strip was the first Power Rangers strip to be written by legendary Transformers writer Simon Furman, collaborating for the first time on the PR strip with equally popular TF artist Andrew Wildman, who had previously done artwork for other Power Rangers strips under Jetix Magazines' previous banner of Fox Kids' Wicked Trivia Power Rangers: S.P.D. is notable among Power Rangers series for featuring several "firsts": * S.P.D. features the greatest number of Rangers in a single season: 19 (5 A-Squad Rangers, 5 B-Squad Rangers, 4 additional Rangers and 5 Dino Thunder Rangers). it also ties up with Wild Force also featuring 19 Rangers(6 wild force and 6 time force rangers appearing in reinforcements from the future plus 7 more red rangers in forever red). Ironically, Tommy Oliver is included in both number of rangers, though he never appeared unmorphed in wormhole, unlike in forever red * It is the first series to feature Pink Rangers who did not have a skirts on their uniforms (Syd and the A-Squad Pink Ranger) and also a first female yellow ranger with a legitimate sentai female counterpart with a suit without a skirt (note that Trini Kwan, Aisha Campbell, Maya, Kelsey Winslow, Katie Walker and Taylor Earhardt are female yellow rangers with male japanese counterparts) * It is notable for featuring the first known Jewish Power Ranger Bridge Carson, however, it was Power Rangers: Zeo that was the first series to feature a Jewish character, the teens non-Ranger friend Raymond. (NOTE: Due to his wedding practices way back in MMPR, many speculate that Lord Zedd may have been of Jewish decent, though this has never been proven and given the fact that Zedd is an alien, this was most likely done as a pure comedic element.) * It is the second series to feature Rangers with a numeral designation; the first was Power Rangers: Zeo. * It is the second series where the Red Ranger (and leader) was the last individual to join a Power Ranger team; the first was Power Rangers: Wild Force. It can be argued, however, that Power Rangers: Time Force also did this since Wes and not Alex became the permanent Red Ranger for the remainder of the show. The same thing happens in Power Rangers: Mystic Force and Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive * It is the second series to feature a villain who was a child (Mora). The first was Prince Sprocket in Power Rangers: Zeo.(Note: One cannot count Impus in Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue because once he matured into his adult form, Olympius, he remained there unlike Mora). * S.P.D. is the first regular Power Rangers series to feature non-humanoids as Power Rangers: Anubis Cruger as the Shadow Ranger and the Blue A-Squad Ranger. * It is the first Power Ranger series to feature an active seventh Ranger, and, later, Kat, who functioned as a ranger in 'Katastrophe'. During the finale, a ninth Ranger, "S.P.D. Nova" (based on the Dekaranger character "DekaBright"), appeared out of a time portal, looking for Sam. Her name was not given, and, after SPD defeated the Troobians, she took Sam back to the future (Note: Nova Ranger's uniform features an "M" design. "M" is the Roman numeral for 1000). * It is the first series to feature an active Ranger with a known identity who is not credited in the opening sequence (Omega Ranger). * It is the first series to feature an "Orange Ranger", imaginary or otherwise. * It is the first series to feature a new Ranger (Katherine "Kat" Manx as Kat Ranger) who has the same name as a previous one. (The other being Katherine "Kat" Hillard, the second MMPR Pink Ranger) from Mighty Morphin to Turbo). * It is the first series to feature a new Ranger who shares a last name with a previous Ranger, but is not in any way related (Elizabeth "Z" Delgado the S.P.D. Yellow Ranger and Danny Delgado from the Wild Force Black Ranger from Power Rangers: Wild Force) * It is the second series to feature a Ranger (Omega and Nova Ranger) who does not have a morphing sequnce, the first was the Phantom Ranger in Power Rangers: Turbo. * According to the episode "Zapped" Syd is a Gemini, this would also make Jack a Gemini due to the fact in the episode "Stakeout", they decided to celebrate their birthday on the same day. * It is the first series to feature a bathroom scene of any kind. During the "Reflections" storyarc, when Sky is chiding himself in a mirror for releasing Mirloc, albeit only sinks are visible, no toilets. * It is the second to address the issue of discrimination, the first was Power Rangers: Time Force, in the fact mutants in society were discriminated against by humans much like the X-Men. During the "Wired" storyarc featuring S.O.P.H.I.E the cyborg, Syd made history by using the word "prejudiced" in an episode, a Power Ranger first. * It is the first series to have an episode take place in Japan, the country the Power Rangers originated. * It is the first series in which one Ranger morphs using their teammate's powers. There have, however, been previous instances of powers being passed from one Ranger to another. * It is the first to have 3 female Rangers on one team and as of the final episode, 4. * It is the first to have a female Red Ranger (Red A-Squad Ranger). Bruce Kalish has said that he and the producers of the show had to convince Disney to use a female Red Ranger, and that while it may be a small step now, it may one day lead to a full-time female Red Ranger on the show, although it is out of the question yet since the sentai series has never featured a female Red Ranger.. * It is the second series to feature Rangers who do not have any known civilian names outside their Ranger designation and color (the Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink A-Squad and Nova Rangers), the first was the Phantom Ranger in Power Rangers: Turbo. * It is the first series to have members promoted to a new color. At the end of "Endings, Part 2", Jack leaves S.P.D. to be with Ally (his new girlfriend). Sky is promoted to Red and Bridge becomes the Blue Ranger. * Power Rangers: S.P.D. is the second series where the Power Rangers belonged to a law enforcement organization, the first was Power Rangers: Time Force. This time it's the first that things are actually labeled "Police". (However, in the first episode of Time Force they were referred to as Time Force Secret Police occasionally.) * It is the fourth series to feature a Red Ranger who resigns their position (Jason resigned his Red Ranger position to go off to the World Peace Conference way back in MMPR, Tommy resigned his Red Ranger position to T.J. in Power Rangers: Turbo), and Alex (the original Red Time Force Ranger) resigned his powers to Wes in Power Rangers Time Force. * It is also the fourth series to feature a Ranger resigning their duties; Jason, Zack and Trini (the original Red, Black and Yellow Rangers) resigned their positions to go off to the World Peace Conference in MMPR, Kimberly (the original Pink Ranger) resigned her powers to Katherine to participate in the Pan Global Games in MMPR, Aisha (the second Yellow Ranger) resigned her powers to Tanya to remain in Africa to care for sick animals in MMPR, Billy (the original Blue Ranger) in Power Rangers: Zeo was forced to resign when his body rejected the Zeo Crystal's power, Rocky (the second Red Ranger/Blue Zeo Ranger 3) resigned his powers to Justin due to a back injury in Power Rangers Turbo and the original Turbo Rangers (excluding Justin) were forced to resign when Zordon informed them that it was time for them to move on with their lives and to find replacements. * Jack Landors is the first Power Ranger to voluntarily resign his position without any outside influence or obstacles determining his decision. * It is the first series since Power Rangers in Space that the entire Power Rangers team did not battle the main villain in the final episode (only the Red Space Ranger Andros battled Astronema in the finale of Power Rangers: In Space whereas only Shadow Ranger battled Emperor Gruumm in the finale of SPD). * It is the first series since Power Rangers: Time Force that the Rangers do not lose their powers in the final episode; however unlike Power Rangers: Time Force, their main Megazord was destroyed. * It is the first series since Power Rangers in Space to not have its base of operations completely destroyed in the final episodes. * The first series to feature an entire team of American-created Rangers: The S.P.D. A-Squad Rangers. The second series to feature any American-created Ranger (the first being Lightspeed Rescue's Titanium Lightspeed Ranger). The A-Squad's helmets are refurbished Power Rangers: In Space helmets with S.P.D. emblems on top, the back and sides redesigned and the Black Ranger's helmet repainted Green. * The Orange Ranger from Boom's dream was also American-made. Basically it was a repaint of the Yellow Space Ranger's helmet and a standard S.P.D. B-Squad suit. The only new thing on the suit was the "0" in the torso and an S.P.D. badge in the top of the helmet. This makes the second series to show a non-Ranger dream of becoming a Ranger (Bulk and Skull were the first), and the first that a non-Ranger has ever gotten the chance to live that dream (though not officially). * It is the first series to end with the morphing call and show the logo in the final shot of the final episode. * It is the first series to feature truly evil and malevolent Power Rangers (the A-Squad). Tommy Oliver (the Green Mighty Morphin Ranger) and the Wind Rangers (Shane, Tori, and Dustin) turned evil due to evil magic, Ryan Mitchell (Titanium Ranger) because of some misguided quest for revenge, Trent Mercer (White Dino Thunder Ranger) because of his Dino Gem's influence, and the Thunder Rangers (Hunter and Blake Bradley) because of Lothor's deception. Eric Myers (Quantum Ranger) and Merrick (Lunar Wolf Ranger) were anti-heroes. * Endings part 2 was the first episode since Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie to feature a non-sentai monster fighting a Megazord. * The series has also given us another rare example of one Ranger borrowing another Ranger's Zord. Previous occasions being when Adam piloted the Red Battlezord in an episode of Power Rangers: Zeo and when Tommy used the Mezodon Megazord in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder. * It is the first series to be fully set in a time frame other than the year of its airing (set in 2025, 20 years after its air year of 2005). Despite also having Rangers from the future, the bulk of the episodes from Power Rangers Time Force were set during the year of its airing. * Fans were extremely displeased when it was revealed that the much-anticipated Omega Ranger would be nothing more than a ball of light when unmorphed (thereby meaning there was no morph sequence for the Omega Ranger, nor would there be a new actor to portray him in civilian form for the majority of the series). It wasn't helped that, besides his debut episode, Omega Ranger received absolutely NO character development and was often treated by the others simply as a weapon, been sent out whenever he was needed, and getting no other screen time in the episode. For a split second in Endings, Sam was demorphed by entering the time portal that would take him back to 2040 and viewers got a fleeting glimpse of the man behind the visor. Bruce Kalish has since admitted that the ball of light was a mistake, and wished he'd fought harder to make Omega a real person. * While early promos said S.P.D. was set in 2020, the date given in the show is 2025. * "Katastrophe", "Missing", "History" and "Impact" were aired out of production order. * S.P.D. is somewhat infamous for two blatant airing mistakes: In Canada, on July 30, 2005, Wormhole, the second part of the S.P.D./Dino Thunder teamup, was aired instead of the scheduled Messenger, Part 1. Currently, Wormhole is slated for a strictly-DVD release. * Also, the episode Impact (Production #1533) was aired 28th in the series, accompanying a "Previously on Power Rangers: SPD", which featured scenes from History, slated to air after Impact. * S.P.D. is the first series since Power Rangers: Time Force to have any of the team's Megazords survive the finale. Although the Delta Squad Megazord was destroyed, the S.W.A.T. Megazord, Delta Command Megazord, and Omegamax Megazord all survived. * It has been confirmed that the Red Ranger's Battlizer armor will make an appearance in the Japanese team-up between Dekaranger (the Japanese series S.P.D. is based upon) and Magiranger (the Japanese series that Mystic Force is based upon), making it first American/New Zealand creation to also appear in sentai (A photo from the "Magiranger vs. Dekaranger" teamup film released on a PR/Sentai fan message board confirms that the S.P.D. Red Ranger's Battlizer armor will be used as a power-up for DekaRed's "Fire Squad" armor.) * S.P.D. is the only generation to have all the titles of their episodes consist of one word. This is an in-joke by producer Bruce Kalish as he had previously worked on Black Hole High, a fantasy series which also consisted of one word titles. * In the beginning of the series, Kat mentioned that the Judge function of the Delta Morphers would seal criminals in "containment cards". Though this was utilized for a majority of the series, the season was sometimes inconsistent, and in some episodes, the monsters and/or their robots exploded instead of being contained. *In "Dekaranger" , the Rangers' weapons , 'zords' , and even (at times ) enemies , used guns that shot bullets. Disney , deciding that it would be a bad idea for children to see bullets being used , went and digitally added 'laser beams' over any scene of a bullet being shot during clips of Sentai footage. In a similar edit , in 'Dekaranger' the rangers would point their fingers in a gun shape , aim at the screen , and then bullet holes would seem to "hit" the screen. This scene was replaced with a similar seen at a different camera angle (with the bullets removed) . *Due to the smaller size of the American "Delta Morpher" compared to the Japanese "SP License" , the "Delta Enforcer" weapon had to be changed in America. While in Japan , the Delta Enforcer's equivalent (the "D-Revolver") defeated criminals by having the SP License placed inside of it , the US toy had "Containment Cards" swiped through it. This resulted in any scenes of the Rangers using the "finisher" ability on this weapon being changed to match the US toy's features. * This season didn't feature a super-motorcycle designed for one of the Rangers, a trend started in Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy (The Uniforce Cycle doesn't count since it was Omega Ranger's personal vehicle). * Although previous seasons had used them, this was the first season to make the concept of "on duty" uniforms a permenant theme. * Wormhole is the second team-up episode with the team from the previous season not to have two parts, the first one being time for lightspeed, or in the case of the space and lost galaxy, a sequel * It is the first (and so far only) season to have a team of rangers with a morphing sequence, but no morphing call. The A-squad rangers, in their fight with the B-squad, had a puff of smoke surround them, and their morphed instantly, with no words being spoken. * This the second seris when the Rangers don,t have to hide there identidy. References * Power Rangers | Teams | S.P.D. de: S.P.D. fr: S.P.D. Category: S.P.D. Category: Season